Six N.J. students to participate in National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Jan Gleim searched for Mariamma Abraham to wish her good luck last Friday before she departed for the national spelling bee. At Crossroads North Middle School in South Brunswick, during the final period of the day, students partake in an activity period. But Gleim, the supervisor of Language Arts and Social Studies at Crossroads, couldn’t find Abraham. She was not with the other children.

Oral Preliminaries
Thursday: 1:15 p.m.- 5:15 p.m. on ESPN3

Semifinals
10 a.m.-1 p.m. on ESPN

Finals
8 p.m.-10 p.m. on ABC

Abraham, a 12-year-old seventh grader, was separately reviewing Latin root words with the school’s Latin teacher in order to prepare for the 2010 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

“That’s Mariamma,” Gleim said. “Preparing up until the final minutes before she left for the trip.”

Mark Bown /Scripps National Spelling BeeMariamma Susan Abraham, 12 of X.Abraham is one of six New Jersey students participating in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee today and Friday.
Mark Bown / Scripps National Spelling BeeKarthik Reddy, 12, of The Peck School, Morristown.Joining Abraham is Karthik Reddy, also 12, from The Peck School in Morristown; Suzanne Greenwood, 14 from Eugene Tighe Middle School in Margate; Vothom Lu, 11 from Cramer Elementary School in Camden; Joshua Casquejo, 13 from West New York Middle School; and Jake Muldowney, 14 from Toms River Intermediate School in Beachwood.

The 273 contestants first have to take a 50-word computerized spelling test at the Grand Hyatt. Then it’s on to the oral preliminaries toay.

Like the other contestants, Abraham had a long journey to Washington. She first won her academic team, the Zeta Units, spelling bee at Crossroads in January. Then, she competed against her entire school — Crossroads North educates 1,000 students — and won. In the finale, contestants are required to spell two words correctly. Abraham breezed through with “conundrum” and “analogize.”

Abraham advanced to a regional competition March 18 at Rider University. She placed first, besting 33 students from Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset county schools, qualifying her for the national bee.

At the northern regional competition, Karthik Reddy won the bee at Fairleigh Dickinson University with the word “cyanide.” He walked away victorious with a college scholarship, a bond for his school, a trophy and a bid to nationals.

Reddy had been competing in spelling bees since first grade, but this is his first trip to the Scripps Howard competition. He learned Greek and Latin to advance him this far.

The hardest word he’s ever encountered during a spelling bee? “Liturgical.” Meaning “relating to, or having the characteristics of liturgy.”

“I use to get nervous,” the student said. “But now I’m use to it. All the applause at regionals made it worth it.”